Category Archives: Perspective

Silence is the Basis of…

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I’m not much of a poet, but occasionally verses show up. Over a decade ago, I posted this short poem that arose in 1977. Silence Silence is the basis of all existence Complete, Perfect, Absolute. To let yourself go, absolutely, completely, To be silent throughout your whole self, being, existence, Is to be Perfection, Complete, Fulfilled. I’d been witnessing for a while then and the silence was often very loud. This is a very Shiva orientation, common to transcendence and awakening. The completion mentioned is a completion unto itself. This is a profound experience, but it’s not actually complete. That … Continue Reading… →

We Are A Community

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In the west, our culture has been very focused on individuality. This is a step up from tribal mode but, like being a teenager, should be seen as a transitional step. We live in a very interdependent community we often take for granted. But our homes, food, roads, cars, water, power, everything has to be planned, made or grown, distributed and made available to us. It all has to be maintained too. Any yet many people live separate lives, disconnected from those around them. Connecting to a community can be very enriching although it can take time to find the … Continue Reading… →

The Ignorance of Enlightenment

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It may seem odd to combine “ignorance” with “enlightenment.” But knowledge is structured in consciousness. Until we have the conscious range to take it all in, there are still gaps in our knowledge. Missing knowledge is “avidya” or ignorance. For example, in Self Realization or Cosmic Consciousness, we are awake to the Self within. The observer has awoken to itself. But this is only the first stage. Lorne Hoff has referred to this as enlightened ignorance. I have talked about Lesha Avidya, the faint remains of ignorance that qualifies Unity and above. But this is a reference to the faint … Continue Reading… →

What are the Perfections?

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If you read the Yoga Sutra or about the siddhis, you often see them translated as powers or abilities. I’ve used variations on that myself. But siddhi actually means perfection. Often this is taken to imply a personal perfection in the ability to know past lives or fly. But these are not personal. As Lorne Hoff has pointed out, the siddhis are perfections of experience, of the ability of consciousness to know itself in specific ways that this form is capable of. Each channel of knowing is a function we can call a law of nature, a way nature can … Continue Reading… →

SAND 2018

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SAND18

I’ll be speaking at the Science and Nonduality (SAND) conference again this fall. There was strong support to return. I’m moving more in the direction of the second book I’m working on about the nature of reality. But the constraints of time mean I’ll focus on stages again, the evolution of the observer or subject side of the equation. There is also the observed or object side and the layers of its construction. The kosha model is one way to look at that, from a more subjective view. A more object-oriented perspective outlines the stages of creation like that touched … Continue Reading… →

Styles of Action

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The world is as you are. The way we experience life has a lot to do with how we experience who we are. When we’re ego-identified, we’re often in an adversarial relationship with others and the world. They respond in kind. We often don’t even realize we’re doing this until it begins to stop. We have few experiential reference points for anything else. What’s arising has a purpose – perhaps to show you what you’re resisting, to bring an opportunity for resolution, to learn, or to move forward (or all of the above). As we become more conscious, the role … Continue Reading… →

Truth, Brahman and Parabrahman

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From a discussion on-line on the concept of truth I thought worth sharing. Not as organized as an article. Edited slightly for context. I’d suggest that expecting there to be one truth that is universally true is false. Reality is different in different stages of development. Everything is material is quite true for some people. This is more honest than someone saying the world is an illusion philosophically when they experience it as real. Absolute and Relative, 2 faces of one reality is another truth that arises when consciousness becomes conscious within. One reality that shows many faces is another … Continue Reading… →

The Body Is

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Another recent quote from Lorne Hoff: “The body is just the process of experience. We’re the experiencer.” Understanding this quote requires some background in the nature of consciousness. Deep within and infusing all is pure Divinity. Pure Divinity is unexpressed yet its inherent qualities lead to expression. Alertness is stirred by aliveness to become consciousness which flows. Consciousness curves back on itself and becomes self aware. Self-aware consciousness is one but has 3 aspects: the observer, the observed or object of experience (itself), and the process of experience. The distinction between observer and observed creates a subtle space into which … Continue Reading… →

The Third Element

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As the process of Divinity has unfolded, it’s become clear there is a third element in play. Alertness and Liveliness have been discussed as the core elements of Divinity that give rise to consciousness and thus all experience and form. But just as the dynamics of consciousness unfold the process of experience itself, so too does Divinity reveal a third element. The best word I could come up with is intelligence. In consciousness, this is the devata value, that which structures form and phenomena, and the sense of unfolding experience we call time. In the second stage of Divinity it … Continue Reading… →

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

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When we’re young, we try to make sense of the world and those around us. As we shift into our teen years, our sense of self and the world shifts markedly. For some, this shift happens quite quickly. For others, more slowly. As we become adults, our worldview is transformed yet again. This is much the same with post-personal shifts. The change in stages can be sudden or slow. But at some point, we realize the change in our sense of self and world-view. Life shows us how markedly we’ve changed and in ways we couldn’t previously have understood. Enlightenment … Continue Reading… →

The Importance of Actual Yoga

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In Yoga, the key is settling the mind. Then the Self “behind” the noisy mind can shine through. Yoga Sutra 1 v2-3: Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind. Then the observer is established in their own nature. This state of quiet mind or yoga is known by many names like Samadhi, transcendence, or Turiya. Many techniques today try to force or control the mind to settle. But as this is not arising naturally, it is difficult to achieve. When it happens, a rare clear transcending may be seen as an awakening. But real Self Realization … Continue Reading… →

Embodiment

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There are several factors that influence how we move forward through the stages of development. – Preparation of the vehicle so it’s able to sustain new depth – Purification and refinement to allow higher clarity of more abstract values – Integration of what has opened so far – Cooperation with the process due to right understanding and OKness All of these are closely interrelated But a big one I’m seeing is the embodiment of the current stage. For example, if there has been a long spiritual practice and depth of presence but we’re averse to being in the body, around … Continue Reading… →